IMF reaches staff-level agreement on Côte d’Ivoire’s debt facilities

Created: Friday, 06 April 2018 13:31

IMF says Côte d’Ivoire’s performance under the lender-supported program was satisfactory in 2017. (Image source: jen dubin/Flickr)The IMF said it reached an agreement on the third review of Côte d’Ivoire's debt facilities and that the country’s performance under the lender-supported program was satisfactory in 2017

“The medium-term outlook is favorable and risks to the forecast are broadly balanced. Economic activity is projected to remain strong and the medium-term outlook is for robust growth to continue. Inflation is expected to remain contained,” said Dhaneshwar Ghura, who led the IMF staff team.

Côte d’Ivoire managed to stave off risks to the economy by slashing cocoa prices to farmers after a price slump in the commodity, which is the country’s main export.

Rating agency Moody’s affirmed its rating on Côte d’Ivoire last month citing subsidy cuts and the diversification of its economy from cocoa.

“Staff welcomed the progress made by the authorities in prioritizing the new investment projects which should help maintaining space to finance the National Development Program (2016-2020),” Ghura added.

“Based on preliminary estimations, GDP grew by 7.8 percent last year despite the fall in cocoa prices and social demands. Inflation remained subdued at about 1 percent, well below the 3 percent regional threshold of the Western Africa Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU),” Ghura said.